Fourteen seconds, a beagle, and NASA's highest honor — three times Omega told the Apollo 13 story on a dial.
When Apollo 13's crew needed a precise 14-second course-correction burn, Jack Swigert timed it on his Speedmaster — per Jim Lovell's account — and the burn worked. (A standing footnote on this site: some evidence suggests a Rolex GMT may have been involved; the Speedmaster account is Lovell's.) NASA later awarded Omega the Silver Snoopy Award, its highest honor for contributions to flight safety and mission success.
2003 — ref. 3578.51, calibre 1861, 5,441 pieces. The number encodes the mission's duration: 142 hours, 54 minutes, 41 seconds. A color Snoopy from the “Eyes on the Stars” mission patch sits in the 9 o'clock subdial; the caseback carries the NASA Snoopy emblem in blue.
2015 — ref. 311.32.42.30.04.003, the “Apollo 13 Silver Snoopy Award” 45th anniversary, calibre 1861, 1,970 pieces (the mission year). White and silver dial, Snoopy in a spacesuit, luminous elements, and the dial text collectors quote back: “What could you do in 14 seconds?” and “Failure is not an option.”
2020 — ref. 310.32.42.50.02.001, the 50th anniversary, calibre 3861 Master Chronometer. Not a numbered limited edition — continuous production, though famously hard to obtain. Silver and blue dial, blue ceramic bezel, and the party piece: an animated caseback where Snoopy's Command and Service Module orbits the moon once per minute while the chronograph runs.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| 2003 · 3578.51 | Cal. 1861 · 5,441 pieces · color Snoopy in 9 o'clock subdial |
| 2015 · 311.32.42.30.04.003 | Cal. 1861 · 1,970 pieces · white/silver dial, Snoopy in spacesuit |
| 2020 · 310.32.42.50.02.001 | Cal. 3861 · not numbered (continuous) · animated orbiting caseback |
The Snoopy editions are the only Speedmasters that commemorate NASA honoring Omega, rather than Omega honoring NASA — the distinction matters to collectors.
The 2003's production number encoding the mission duration (142:54:41 → 5,441) is the kind of detail this hobby runs on.
No public auction-house results were found for the Snoopy editions in this research pass — only dealer asking prices, which are not quoted here as results.